"automatically resize to fit contents" grayed out

[T]

I have a nested table within which I need to include a URL
for reference, however I do NOT want the width of the cell
to resize to match the width of the (considerably long)
URL. I know I should uncheck the "automatically resize to
fit contents" checkbox in the table options dialog,
however, it's grayed out, and checked, in the dialog and I
can't figure out how to uncheck it.

Oh, and it is unchecked for the table that holds this
nested table. Any tips??!!

Thanks,
T

 

[Stefan Blom]

It seems as though Word automatically checks (and greys out) the
"Automatically resize to fit contents" option for a table contained in
the cell of another table. You can easily test this if you create two
separate tables in a test document, clear the "Automatically
resize..." option for both of them and then cut and paste one of the
tables into a cell of the other. For the table contained within the
other, you'll find that the option is greyed out and selected again.

However, although the "Automatically resize..." option is selected, if
you specify a fixed width for the nested table as well as for its
columns, it does seem to keep the desired width. If this doesn't work
for you, have you considered skipping the nested table, and instead
use tabs within a cell of the "parent" table, or splitting the cells
of the parent table?

 

[T]

Yes, I noticed the behavior of the nested table being
automatically grayed out, and was hoping there was some
way to override that.

I tried setting a "fixed column width" but just want to be
sure I did it correctly (oh, just realized I never said
that I'm running Word 2002). I have my column at the
desired width, then I right clicked in it, went to Autofit
in the popup menu, then selected "Fixed Column Width." And
for good measure, I also set a preferred column width in
the table properties for both the nested table and the
holding table.

Still no luck though.

I suppose I could try working in one table, but one of the
main reasons why I have these nested tables, is that I'm
incorporating tables from two different documents into
one. I was hoping a quick copy/paste would do, especially
since I have some graphic elements involved, but it's
proving to be possibly more of a hassle than producing a
brand new table.

-T

 

[Stefan Blom]

I'm not sure exactly what problem you are having with setting column
widths manually.

For problems with the Table Properties dialog box, see:

How to sidestep the problems of the Word 2000 (and higher) Table
Properties dialog
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/TblsFldsFms/TablePropPrbs.htm

And if you need to know everything about different ways to specify the
widths of columns, see the section titled "Sizing rows and columns" in
the following article:

Table Basics
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/TblsFldsFms/TableBasics.htm

 

[Stefan Blom]

I cannot reproduce your problem. Note that I'm still on Word 2000, so
it might be an issue of Word 2002.